Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Controversial Border Policy Endangers Migrants: White House

Washington — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott endangers migrants with his border policy, the White House charged Monday after the death of a 3-year-old girl who was riding on one of the buses Abbott has been sending with migrants to different large cities in the country.

Also read: AMLO says that the barbed wire on the Texas border ‘is inhumane’

During her customary conference with the media, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to a reporter’s question about the girl’s death by calling it “horrible” and offered her condolences to the family.

Abbott could work with the president on border and immigration issues, but instead he has chosen dangerous and “illegal” actions, Jean-Pierre said.

“It’s undermining what we’re trying to do, what the president is trying to do, dealing with… a broken system in a humane way, trying to do it in an effective way,” Jean-Pierre said.

The presidential spokesperson stopped short of explicitly blaming Abbott for the migrant girl’s death, but defended the president’s border policies and said Abbott continues to implement counterproductive measures.

“Unfortunately, it not only endangers young migrants, or at-risk migrants, but it also puts Border Patrol at risk as they try to do their job,” he said.

“And (Abbott) interferes with that every day.”

Abbott’s aides did not respond to requests for comment.

Texas and the federal government are in a dispute over the use of buoy barriers in the river to stop the passage of migrants under the Texas governor’s Operation Lone Star.

Abbott recently said his migrant busing campaign has brought more than 30,000 migrants to Washington, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver and Los Angeles.

“We will continue transporting migrants to sanctuary cities until Biden does his job and secures the border,” Abbott wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The girl was traveling on a bus that left Brownsville bound for Chicago and died Thursday in Marion County, Illinois, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Marion County Medical Examiner Troy Cannon told The Dallas Morning News on Monday that the girl became ill on the way and had a temperature of about 100 degrees.

He added that he was two weeks away from turning four, but did not want to give more details about his death.

Preliminary autopsy results are inconclusive, but more tests are being done that could establish what happened.

Cannon said results from those additional tests should be available in a couple of weeks.

The girl’s body has already been handed over to her family, he said.

Also read: Senator John Cornyn defends the use of barbed wire to prevent the passage of migrants

The Texas Division of Emergency Management said Friday that none of the passengers had a fever or illness that required medical assistance before starting the trip.

The agency did not respond to an email message Monday seeking more information.

The White House had previously criticized Abbott for his order to bus migrants as a cruel political ruse, such as when migrants were dropped off right outside Vice President Kamala Harris’ official residence at Naval Observatory in Washington.

The buses have become a topic of conversation among conservatives, who call the Democratic mayors of the cities where they arrive hypocrites, pointing out that small border communities in Texas have been overwhelmed by greater numbers of migrants.

Operation Lone Star has been criticized by activist groups and Democratic lawmakers who say the barbed wire and buoys in the river are a danger to migrants.

The state has defended those measures as an attempt to divert migrants toward legal ports of entry, and Abbott has said no orders have been issued that “endanger the lives of those attempting to cross the border illegally.”

The Justice Department wants the 1,000-foot-long buoy barrier removed from the Rio Grande.

Also read: Texas violates water agreement with the placement of buoys in the Rio Grande, says Mexico

Texas has argued that the river is too shallow at that point for the federal government to claim jurisdiction.

Abbott’s allies in Congress have defended his actions at the border and have called on the federal government to reimburse the state for that expense.

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2023-08-15 07:00:00


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